Cover Rowoon plays Jang Si-yul in Disney+’s ‘The Murky Stream’, a historical action K-drama set in 16th-century Joseon (Photo: Disney+)
Rowoon plays Jang Si-yul in Disney+’s ‘The Murky Stream’, a historical action K-drama set in 16th-century Joseon (Photo: Disney+)
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From ‘The Murky Stream’ and ‘Queen Woo’ to ‘Six Flying Dragons’ and ‘Mr. Sunshine’, these historical action K-dramas are packed with sword fights, warriors and epic battles
Historical K-dramas are known for palace intrigue, royal rivalries and elaborate period costumes, but the genre can be just as thrilling when swords, warriors and battlefields take centre stage. These K-dramas span centuries of Korean history, from the final years of Goryeo and the founding of Joseon to the kingdoms of ancient Silla and Goguryeo, while some take a more imaginative approach to the past.
Six Flying Dragons and My Country: The New Age dramatise the turbulent birth of Joseon, while Mr. Sunshine turns the twilight of the dynasty into a sweeping story of resistance. Elsewhere, Kingdom adds zombies to its fictional Joseon, Song of the Bandits swaps palace corridors for the lawless frontier of 1920s Gando, and The Murky Stream plunges into a corrupt Joseon society.
Whether you’re looking for sageuk with sword fights, historical Korean dramas with political intrigue or action-packed period series, these nine K-dramas bring plenty of combat, conflict and high-stakes drama to the screen.
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‘The Murky Stream’ (2025)
Above Rowoon takes on a grittier role in Disney+’s historical action K-drama ‘The Murky Stream’, playing dockside labourer Jang Si-yul amid the corruption and violence of 16th-century Joseon
Disney+’s historical action K-drama The Murky Stream offers viewers an unflinching look into how corruption and violence shape the lives of those living on the margins of 16th-century Joseon society. Set along the Gyeonggang River, the series unfolds through the intertwined stories of Jang Si-yul (Rowoon), a dockside labourer forced into a life of crime to survive; Choi Eun (Shin Ye-eun), the sharp-witted daughter of a wealthy merchant; and Jung Chun (Park Seo-ham), a principled government official whose loyalty to Si-yul puts his own position at risk.
Rowoon is no stranger to sageuk K-dramas, having starred in the acclaimed The King’s Affection and the more recent The Matchmakers, but The Murky Stream sees the actor leave behind the polished, romantic-lead image he has often embodied for a grittier and more layered performance. As Jang Si-yul, he trades immaculate costumes and swooning gazes for a weathered appearance, inhabiting a man whose harsh circumstances have left little room for the charming leading-man persona audiences may be accustomed to seeing from him.
See more: 8 K-drama actors who made surprising genre switches, from Byeon Woo-seok to Lee Min-ho
‘River Where the Moon Rises’ (2021)
Above Kim So-hyun and Na In-woo bring martial arts grit and military strategy to the classic Goguryeo folktale of Princess Pyeonggang and On Dal in the K-drama ‘River Where the Moon Rises’
River Where the Moon Rises puts an action-packed spin on one of Korea’s enduring historical legends, retelling the Goguryeo folktale of Princess Pyeonggang and On Dal. Set in the 6th century, the KBS historical action K-drama follows Pyeonggang (Kim So-hyun), a determined princess caught in a struggle for the Goguryeo throne.
When corrupt noblemen bring about her family’s downfall, Pyeonggang is separated from her royal identity and raised as the assassin Yeom Ga-jin. She eventually returns to the palace on a mission that pits her against its most powerful figures and brings her together with On Dal (Na In-woo), a gentle young man whose nature belies his potential as a warrior. Echoing the famous folktale, Pyeonggang helps transform On Dal into a celebrated general who fights to protect Goguryeo.
The drama takes considerable creative liberties with this source material, turning a simple folk romance into a sweeping tale of political intrigue and battlefield action. Its behind-the-scenes story is almost as memorable: On Dal was originally played by Ji Soo, before a real-life controversy saw him replaced by Na In-woo partway through filming. The last-minute overhaul could have derailed the series, but instead it ended up highlighting the main leads’ chemistry and giving Na In-woo his biggest break.
‘Six Flying Dragons’ (2015)
Above ‘Six Flying Dragons’ is an epic 50-episode historical action masterpiece charting the ideological and violent transition from the Goryeo Dynasty to the founding of Joseon
Few historical action K-dramas match the scale and ambition of Six Flying Dragons. Set during the final years of Goryeo and the founding of Joseon, the 50-episode SBS series reimagines a defining chapter in Korean history through six central characters, including future king Yi Bang-won (Yoo Ah-in), reformist scholar Jeong Do-jeon (Kim Myung-min) and master swordsman Ddang-sae (Byun Yo-han). As they rally behind the creation of a new kingdom, their alliances are tested by political intrigue, shifting loyalties and the struggle for power.
The drama balances its sprawling political narrative with memorable sword fights, from Ddang-sae’s duels to large-scale battles amid Goryeo’s collapse. Its action is closely woven into the historical upheaval, including the Wihwado Retreat and the founding of Joseon, while its fictional characters and storylines add emotional depth to the history.
‘Queen Woo’ (2024)
Above Jeon Jong-seo stars as a Goguryeo queen fighting for survival in an adrenaline-fuelled 24-hour race for the throne
The sudden death of King Gogukcheon (Ji Chang-wook) turns Goguryeo into a battlefield in this tight historical K-drama, as Queen Woo (Jeon Jong-seo) races against rival princes and tribal leaders determined to claim the vacant throne. She only has 24 hours to secure a new king, as her own position and her family’s survival hang in the balance and enemies threaten to seize control. Her solution draws on the Goguryeo practice of levirate marriage—a custom in which a widowed queen keeps the royal line intact by marrying her late husband’s brother.
That premise sends her beyond the safety of the palace and into a dangerous succession struggle filled with armed ambushes, tactical manoeuvring and close-quarters combat. The series takes inspiration from the real Queen Woo, who married King Gogukcheon’s younger brother following his death and became queen for a second time. It’s a role that suits Jeon Jong-seo, an actress known for playing women with a controlled, steely intensity—qualities she brings fully to a queen fighting for her crown and her life.
‘Mr. Sunshine’ (2018)
Above A former slave turned US Marine and a noblewoman-turned-sniper lead the fight against Japanese colonial rule in this blockbuster epic K-drama set during the fall of Joseon
Rooftop snipers, Japanese samurai and civilian freedom fighters collide in Mr. Sunshine, an epic period drama set during Joseon’s final years and its transition into the Korean Empire. Lee Byung-hun stars as Eugene Choi, a Korean-born former slave who escapes to the United States and later returns as a US Marine Corps officer, while Kim Tae-ri plays Go Ae-shin, a noblewoman who secretly takes up arms as a sniper for the Righteous Army.
Their fictional story unfolds against a backdrop of real events, including the 1871 US expedition to Korea and the growing resistance to Japanese influence and eventual annexation. The series blends romance and colonial-era conspiracy with gunfights, sword duels and resistance missions, grounding its action in the real turmoil of Joseon’s twilight years.
A major hit in Korea, Mr. Sunshine ended its 24-episode run with a nationwide finale rating of 18.1 per cent, one of the highest in Korean cable television history. The show’s lead, Lee Byung-hun, went on to win Best Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards, and the series’ international release on Netflix introduced its sweeping historical saga to audiences worldwide.
‘My Country: The New Age’ (2019)
Above Yang Se-jong and Woo Do-hwan play rival warriors whose fractured friendship unfolds against the violent founding of Joseon in JTBC’s historical action K-drama ‘My Country: The New Age’
Where Mr. Sunshine closes out Joseon’s story, My Country: The New Age opens it, returning to the same turbulent founding of the dynasty dramatised in Six Flying Dragons. Set in the late 14th century, this JTBC historical action K-drama follows Seo Hwi (Yang Se-jong), an honourable warrior who refuses to tolerate injustice, and his friend Nam Seon-ho (Woo Do-hwan), an equally formidable fighter whose ambition is fuelled by his desire to overcome the limits of his birth.
Their friendship fractures under the weight of rivalry, betrayal and opposing visions of what their new country should become. Their fates become tangled with Han Hui-jae (Kim Seol-hyun), an intelligent and resourceful woman raised among the gisaeng of Ihwaru, and Yi Bang-won (Jang Hyuk), the ambitious prince who recruits Seo Hwi to his cause and would later reign as King Taejong.
The K-drama, available to stream on Netflix, weaves real historical figures and events—including General Yi Seong-gye’s 1388 Wihwado Retreat, the founding of Joseon in 1392 and the First Strife of the Princes in 1398—through the fractured friendships and rivalries of its fictional leads. Its battlefield clashes are driven as much by personal loyalty and betrayal as by the struggle for political power, where the fight for a throne is inseparable from the fight to keep a friendship alive.
‘Song of the Bandits’ (2023)
Above Kim Nam-gil leads Netflix’s ‘Song of the Bandits’, a Western-inspired historical action K-drama set in 1920s Gando amid Japanese colonial rule and the Korean independence movement
Think of Netflix’s Song of the Bandits as a historical action K-drama by way of a Kimchi Western—South Korea’s answer to the Spaghetti Western, complete with dusty borderlands, horseback chases, shootouts and larger-than-life outlaws. Set in 1920s Gando, a borderland region in present-day northeastern China long home to a large ethnic Korean population, the series follows Lee Yoon (Kim Nam-gil), a former slave turned Japanese soldier who defects, weighed down by guilt over his past.
Hoping to atone for his sins, he travels to Gando to track down Choi Choong-soo (Yoo Jae-myung), offering to help with the resistance. His path also crosses with Nam Hee-shin (Seohyun), a railway bureau employee secretly working for the resistance, who finds herself caught between her mission, her feelings for Yoon and her engagement to Lee Gwang-il (Lee Hyun-wook)—a Korean-born collaborator serving in the Japanese Imperial Army and Yoon’s former master.
While Song of the Bandits is fictional rather than a retelling of a specific true story, its Western-inspired action unfolds against the historical backdrop of Japanese colonial rule and the Korean independence movement in the 1920s. The result is a historical action K-drama that swaps Joseon-era palaces for a lawless frontier.
‘Kingdom’ (2019)
Above Ju Ji-hoon stars as Crown Prince Lee Chang in Netflix’s ‘Kingdom’, the historical action K-drama that turns Joseon palace intrigue into a fight for survival against a mysterious zombie plague
Rather than dramatising a real historical event or figure, Netflix’s zombie political thriller Kingdom imagines a fictional Joseon kingdom and throws a supernatural plague into the mix, turning the dead into ravenous zombies. The series follows Crown Prince Lee Chang (Ju Ji-hoon), who suspects a cover-up surrounding his father’s mysterious illness and secretly leaves the capital with his personal guard Mu-yeong (Kim Sang-ho) to uncover the truth. What he discovers is that a deadly outbreak has already begun. Along the way, they join forces with physician Seo-bi (Bae Doona) and other survivors as the plague spreads across the kingdom.
The zombies may be fictional, but Kingdom draws its texture from the political hierarchies, royal court and social divisions of the Joseon era. As Lee Chang races to contain the plague, he must also contend with the powerful Haewon Cho clan and rival claimants circling the throne. The result is a grisly collision of bloody battles, palace intrigue and zombie horror, pushing the historical action K-drama into decidedly undead territory.
The Netflix original series is based on the webtoon The Kingdom of the Gods, written by Kim Eun-hee and illustrated by Yang Kyung-il. Its success helped bring Korean entertainment to the fore globally, leading to a second season and the spinoff Kingdom: Ashin of the North. To this day, the prospect of a third season has continued to generate interest among viewers.
‘Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth’ (2016)
Above Park Seo-joon, Park Hyung-sik and BTS’s V star in KBS’s youth historical action K-drama ‘Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth’
Long before they became the swoon-worthy flower boys of K-drama, the Hwarang were a real group of elite young men in the ancient Silla Kingdom, trained in the arts, culture and martial skills. KBS’s Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth gives this historical institution a youthful, fictionalised makeover, following a group of aristocratic warriors-in-training whose lives become entangled with palace politics, romance and a hidden king.
At the centre is Moo-myung (Park Seo-joon), a young man from a low social class who assumes the identity of Sun-woo and joins the Hwarang alongside Sam Maek-jong (Park Hyung-sik), the reigning King Jinheung, whose identity has been kept secret since childhood to protect him from assassins. Rounding out the group are Ah-ro (Go Ara), a sharp, free-spirited young woman caught between the group’s rivalries and romances, and Han-sung (Kim Tae-hyung—BTS’s V, in his acting debut), a fan favourite prized for his warmth.
Set during Silla’s Three Kingdoms period, the series uses its fictional Hwarang as a gateway into a society shaped by rigid class divisions and royal power struggles, its warriors training in swordsmanship while navigating rivalries within the group and tensions at court. Though inspired by the real Hwarang, much of its plot and characterisation is fictionalised—a fusion sageuk rather than a straightforward retelling of Silla history.
From Joseon’s bloody founding to its final years, and from Goguryeo and Silla to the Japanese-occupied Korean frontier, these historical action K-dramas prove that sageuk can be every bit as gripping when the story calls for a sword rather than a silk robe. Whether the appeal lies in epic battles, martial-arts choreography, royal succession struggles, resistance fighters or a supernatural twist, each series offers a different way into Korea’s past—with plenty of action along the way.
Maggie Adan is a content writer, editor, and strategist with extensive experience across print, digital, and social media publishing. Formerly editor-in-chief at K-Zone Philippines, Summit Books and Content Lab, she has written lifestyle stories covering everything from entertainment and travel to beauty and wellness. A storyteller at heart with a keen editorial eye and a passion for narrative, she contributes to various publications and helps brands create and curate content for their social media platforms.
